Tag Archives: merlot

RKS 2024 Wine: Searching for a Reasonably Priced Merlot in Italy

Ontario struggles with a reasonably priced Merlot. Good Merlots are not easy finds in Ontario. My favourite is the Merlot from Two Sisters in Niagara-on-the-Lake but at $60 a bottle few are willing to pony up at that price. So we look to Italy for a reasonably priced Merlot. We find an Italian Merlot fromContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Searching for a Reasonably Priced Merlot in Italy”

RKS 2024 Wine: Featherstone 2020 Onyx from Niagara

33% Merlot. 33% Cabernet Franc. 33% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc thrives in Ontario and almost always makes wines that do not disappoint. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are most often mundane but when judiciously oaked can shine. Each varietal was individually fermented. The Merlot was fermented and aged in French oak barrels. The Cabernets were fermentedContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Featherstone 2020 Onyx from Niagara”

RKS 2024 Wine: Some Higher End Bordeaux: Château Clarke 2016

There is an ample supply at Vintages (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) of red Bordeaux under $25. Are they so much inferior to a Château Clarke 2016 from Baron Edmond de Rothschild at $55? This wine is a blend of 70 % Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aroma:  A forceful and dense nose of plum,Continue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Some Higher End Bordeaux: Château Clarke 2016”

RKS 2024 Wine: Riverview Estate Winery 2021 Rosso: The Great Rosso Mystery!

Unfortunately, there is no indication on the label what grapes are used in this red blend Rosso I purchased at the winery this week. Not only that there is no “Rosso” wine on their website but there is a Rosso Cabernet yet its bottle picture does not say “Rosso Cabernet” but “Rosso”. Let’s assume, ifContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Riverview Estate Winery 2021 Rosso: The Great Rosso Mystery!”

RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Ontario Merlot Search Continues: Riverview Estate Winery 2021 Merlot

Finding great Ontario Cabernet Franc is not that difficult. The same can’t be said for Merlot. Most of the time it is bland. Merlot from Niagara’s Two Sisters and Featherstone Estate are bright beacons for Ontario Merlot. So what about the 2021 Merlot from Riverview Estate Winery? The back label states it has been agedContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Ontario Merlot Search Continues: Riverview Estate Winery 2021 Merlot”

RKS 2024 Wine: Blackboard Merlot from Washington State: A Berlin Wall Merlot?

Many Washington State Merlots are not afraid to have a little bath in oak. It gives Merlot a pleasing to everyone aura. I had a Konstantin Frank Merlot in the Finger Lakes recently and it had a good dose of oak in it. My dining companion, no lover of red wine, enthused about how “approachable”Continue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Blackboard Merlot from Washington State: A Berlin Wall Merlot?”

RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Merlot: To Dream the Almost Impossible Dream

Wine writers must suffer boredom reviewing wines if they have no passion. You might want to say I am passionate about discovering good Ontario Merlot despite the fact it might be a Sir Edmund Hillary climb to find one. The majority taste neutered with little power to impress. Sure you can point to terroir toContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Merlot: To Dream the Almost Impossible Dream”

RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Merlot and Running for Cover

My experience with Ontario Merlot has not been impressive. However jazz it up with some oak and it can work a bit of magic. The label on this Colio Estate Winery 2020 Reserve Merlot states, “ …and the smooth silky finish bestowed on the wine by skilled oak aging.” Their website fails to describe theContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Merlot and Running for Cover”

RKS 2024 Wine: No Indigenous Greek Grapes Here

Unfortunately, in Ontario we receive only a small amount of Greek red wine and that which has flowed our way on the retail shelves of our state liquor monopoly fails to impress much of it Xinomavro if not aged sufficiently can be unpleasantly tannic.  I was piqued when I saw this Dyo Elies from theContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: No Indigenous Greek Grapes Here”

RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Ontario Merlot Redemption Meets Dale Carnegie

Merlot as a single varietal wine has a bleak future in Ontario. But blend it with Ontario wunderkid Cabernet Franc and lackluster Cabernet Sauvignon and you can consistently have a great Ontario Meritage in both Niagara and Lake Erie North Shore. Sometimes the sum can outshine some of the parts. For example, the Queen BeeContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Ontario Merlot Redemption Meets Dale Carnegie”